Saturday's sports briefs

Stewart signs minor league contract

LOS ANGELES - Ten days after being released by the Chicago Cubs, Ian Stewart was signed to a minor league contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A former Asheville Tourist who resides in Buncombe County during the offseason, Stewart spent all or part of the last six years in Major League Baseball. But he'd been in Triple-A this season until the Cubs let him go following a Twitter rant for which he later apologized.

The Dodgers are assigning him to their Triple-A club in Albuquerque, N.M.

Stewart has a career .232 batting average in the big leagues and was hitting .168 for the Cubs' Triple-A affiliate in Iowa this season.

More coverage of pro baseball players with WNC ties is on Page C3.

Giants bat out of order vs. Dodgers

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Giants were caught batting out of order against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday, wiping away Buster Posey's RBI double in the first inning.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy submitted a lineup card that had Posey batting fourth. So after Posey hit third in Pablo Sandoval's spot to give the Giants a 1-0 lead, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly called out the mistake to umpires.

Posey was ruled out but got to bat again in the fourth spot, ending the inning on a fly out to right field. Posey had batted third in 15 straight games until Friday night.

Froome wins stage at Tour de France

AX 3 DOMAINES, France - Chris Froome used the first tough mountain stage to take command of the Tour de France on Saturday, leaving two-time champion Alberto Contador and other challengers in his wake on a grueling climb in the Pyrenees to seize the leader's yellow jersey with a dominant win on the eighth stage.

Froome leads Contador by nearly two minutes, with former champions Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans much further back.

A list of Saturday's top finishers and overall leaders is on Page C5.

Fans kill soccer referee in Brazil

SAO PAULO - Police say enraged spectators invaded a football field, stoned the referee to death and quartered his body after he stabbed a player to death.

The Public Safety Department of the state of Maranhao says in a statement that it all started when referee Otavio da Silva expelled player Josenir Abreu from a game last weekend. The two got into a fist fight, then Silva took out a knife and stabbed Abreu, who died on his way to the hospital.

The statement issued this week says Abreu's friends and relatives immediately "rushed into the field, stoned the referee to death and quartered his body."

Local news media say the spectators also decapitated Silva and stuck his head on a stake in the middle of the field. Police have arrested one suspect.

More Tourists' games postponed

ROME, Ga. - Rain affected the Asheville Tourists for a fourth straight day when officials postponed Saturday's doubleheader against Rome. The teams are scheduled to start a doubleheader at 5 p.m. today.

Friday night's game was delayed more than 2 1/2 hours before Rome beat Asheville, 3-1. Asheville's games on Wednesday and Thursday were postponed.

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Saturday's sports briefs

Ten days after being released by the Chicago Cubs, Ian Stewart was signed to a minor league contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers.